Mackay is a city on the Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia, located about 970 kilometres north of Brisbane. 

It’s known as the sugar capital of Australia, producing more than a third of the country’s cane sugar. 

In South Mackay, sits a spacious pub called Harrup Park Country Club. In February 2013, this was one of the last places Shandee Blackburn was seen alive. 

The 23-year-old finishes her seven hour Friday night shift and begins to make her way home to her mother’s house in Boddington Street. Wearing dark pants and a dark shirt, Shandee taps out a text message as she walks, not even 15 minutes from her destination. It’s warm outside with a light breeze, as the town enters into its last weeks of summer. The streets are quiet. Empty. Shandee has no reason to be afraid. 

But that night, Shandee will not make it to her front door. A taxi driver would see a scuffle he does not understand, and call the police. She is brutally attacked. And CCTV features a man, just prior to her attack, crouching in some nearby bushes.

 

CREDITS

Guest: Hedley Thomas, host of Shandee's Story

Host: Jessie Stephens

Producer: Gia Moylan

Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri

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